The National Theatre has won an Event of the Year award after members of the public voted for its £10 ticket scheme.

The theatre pulled in 41% of the vote in website Whatsonstage.com's Theatregoers' Choice Awards.

The National offered two-thirds of tickets at £10 in its Olivier theatre for six months last year. The offer will be repeated in 2004 and 2005.

The Theatre's artistic director Nicholas Hytner said he was delighted about the win.

"I am even more delighted that our second Travelex £10 Season starts in April with a repetoire that we hope is every bit as strong as last year's," he added.

The cut-price ticket scheme aims to attract a wider range of people to the theatre, including a younger and less affluent audience.

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Out of the 23 categories, the National won 15 awards - including six for the musical Anything Goes, two for Jerry Springer the Opera and a best actor prize for Kenneth Branagh who took the leading role in David Mamet's play Edmond.

Three of the four original £10 ticket season productions also won prizes - His Girl Friday for Best New Comedy, Henry V for Best Shakespearean Production, and Nicola Walker for Best Supporting Actress alongside Branagh in Edmond.

More than 10,000 people voted in the Whatsonstage.com awards, with nearly 1,000 people involved in drawing up the shortlists last year.

The National's £10 ticket season has not been without controversy - The Sunday Telegraph reported last year that directors at the Olivier Theatre were asked to stage productions for £10,000, about one tenth of their normal budget.

But a National Theatre spokesperson said the costs of the scheme were being met by sponsorship.